Mistaken Identity
by PrajnaK
Summary: Serena mistakes someone other than Darien to be Tuxedo Mask and Darien believes that Serena might be more than she appears. How far will Darien go to prove that the other man is not Tuxedo Mask and what will happen when they both discover the truth?
1. Costumes

_This story turned out to be a little more humorous than I had originally planned.  
So if this is your first time reading it, be prepared to laugh.  
_

_I started this story because Chapter 11 of __**A New Life**__ is going to have a lot happening in it and it's going to take me some time to write it out properly.  
While you all waited, I thought you would enjoy a cute short story!  
In all honesty though, I don't know how many chapters it will end up being.  
_

_**A little note:**__ This doesn't go directly with the timeline… of course, what fanfic really does?  
But all 5 sailor scouts are present, they are still searching for the Moon Princess, they don't know who Tuxedo Mask is, etc. _

_**Disclaimer: **Don't own Sailor Moon_

**_Enjoy!_**

**_PLEASE R&R!  
_**

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**Mistaken Identity**

**Chapter 1 **- Costumes

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_Her heart beat rapidly. Tuxedo Mask was leaning down to kiss her! Finally, after so many battles and after so many times he saved her, he was going to kiss her… HER! Serena's eyes started to close and her lips puckered subtly as she started to stand on her tippy-toes to meet his lips._

"_Serena…"_

_Her eyes snapped open. Serena!? She looked down to see if she had detransformed. No, she was still Sailor Moon! How does he know her name?? She looked up as his gorgeous black hair started growing into long brown hair and his eyes grew wide and angry.  
_

"_SERENA!!!"_

"AHH!" Serena lifted her head up abruptly, the motion causing her to fall off of her chair. "Umph! Owwww!" She wailed as she tried to untangle her legs and finally looked up into her teacher's angry eyes.

"Why do you always sleep in my class?! Am I THAT boring to you?"

Serena sniffed as she rubbed her bottom, "Sorry, Ms. H… I didn't get a lot of sleep last night." After all, it's not her fault if she's called out to battle at 2 in the morning!!

Ms. H just had one word for her, "Detention!"

Serena adjusted herself back into her seat and sighed. She looked around the room and saw Amy and Lita looking at her sympathetically. After all, they knew she wasn't lying – they were there with her, fighting by her side.

After detention, Serena sluggishly made her way to the arcade. The only thing that would brighten up her day, aside from a nice warm bed, would be ice cream… and of course, Andrew. She opened the doors and dragged her feet to the counter, mumbling and groaning as she sat on the stool and subsequently dropped her head onto the counter.

"You okay, Serena?"

"ICE CREAM!! Must… have… ice… cream…"

Andrew laughed and turned around to get her usual.

"Fail another test, Meatball Head?"

Serena stood up suddenly, "Darien! You are SO vile and- oh…" Serena realized she had gotten up too fast when she started to get light headed and her knees gave out. The room turned black and she expected to collide with the tile floor when there were suddenly strong arms around her waist. She looked up into Darien's eyes.

When Serena had almost fainted, the strangest feelings flashed across Darien's mind and heart. They were the same feelings he experienced as Tuxedo Mask when Sailor Moon was in trouble. The second his arms were around her waist though, the feelings disappeared. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, as Serena couldn't possibly be Sailor Moon, and looked down at the girl in his arms.

When Serena wasn't falling flat on her face, throwing her low-score test papers at him, crying like a baby, yelling at him while making insane arm gestures, or stuffing her face full of anything edible… She was actually beautiful and almost looked mature.

Serena didn't know what to do. Darien had saved her from an ungraceful plummet and now she was in his arms, staring deeply into his eyes. Without him calling her names, making fun of her, or being a jerk… he was actually extremely handsome and suddenly being this close to him made her heart start to race.

"Uh… Did I miss something?"

Darien quickly straightened and released his hands from around Serena's waist as he looked up at Andrew. "Nah, she was about to fall again and I didn't think her brain could take much more abuse."

"What do you mean?! I don't abuse my brain!"

Darien raised an eyebrow, "Every time you fall flat on your face, your tiny brain is banging against the sides of your skull. If you count how many times you have fallen, imagine how much damage that has done. At this point, you probably really do have meatballs for brains!"

Serena put her hands on her hips, accentuating her tiny waist. She was about to come back with a sure-to-be witty reply, but as her mouth opened she heard a beep. Serena glanced down at her communicator and sighed.

"Forgot about your Brainless People Anonymous meeting?"

She glared at Darien before turning back to the counter and swallowing her ice cream whole. Andrew and Darien both blinked at her. They should have been used to her insane eating abilities at this point, but it never ceased to amaze them just how much she could stuff in that mouth of hers. (_A.N. I couldn't help it…_)

"Thanks, Andrew! Gotta go! Bye, Jerk!" Serena ran out of the arcade and flipped open her communicator to hear Raye's voice: "TEMPLE! NOW!"

Serena ran as fast as she could. She can't believe she had forgotten about the Scout meeting. Raye sounded SO angry!! "OOF!" Her thoughts were interrupted as she collided into someone and they both went crashing to the ground. Serena landed in a rather compromising position on top of a VERY cute guy with black hair and blue eyes. She started to wail, "I'm so sorry! I was just in such a hurry!!!"

The man beneath her put his hands over his ears, "It's okay!!"

Serena sniffled and looked down at him, "Really? You're not mad?"

"Of course I'm not mad… It's not every day I get knocked over and straddled by an attractive girl."

'Attractive? He thinks I'm attractive!!! He is rather cute and... Wait, 'straddled'?' Serena looked down and pushed herself up immediately, her cheeks blushing furiously. She focused on her feet as he stood, not able to meet his eyes because of how embarrassed she was.

He chuckled softly, "My name is Matt."

"Umm… I'm Serena…" She slowly looked up at him and saw he was smiling at her.

"Weren't you in a hurry to be somewhere?"

"OH!" She turned and started running, waving her hand above her head, "Nice meeting you!! Sorry, again!" She dashed up the stairs and burst through the doors of the Temple. "I'm soooooooooooooooo sorry!" There was a loud screech and Serena looked down to see that she had stepped on Luna's tail. "Sorry, Luna!"

Luna glared at her while she hugged her tail to her body protectively.

"Honestly, Serena! Amy and Lita told me you got detention, AGAIN, but even with that you should have been here half an hour ago!!" Raye couldn't believe how irresponsible Serena was.

"I couldn't help it Raaaaayeee," Serena whined, "I was SO tired and I needed ice cream so I went to the arcade. Then I ran into that JERK and he said I was abusing my brain!" She couldn't bring herself to tell them about what happened on her way here.

"WHAT brain!?" Raye crossed her arms and glared at Serena.

"Now, Raye," Luna stared at her disapprovingly, "I'm sure Serena has a brain in there somewhere."

"Why you good-for-nothing fur ball!" Serena started chasing Luna around the room

"Silence!" Mina shouted after a moment, causing everyone to look in her direction. She glared at Raye, Serena, and even Luna. "Now that I have your attention and now that everyone's here, we have something VERY important to discuss!" Mina looked incredibly serious before she suddenly grinned, "The Halloween Ball!"

Amy, Raye and Luna twitched and Lita started laughing. Serena jumped up for joy and clapped.

"Um, Mina… Don't you think we should spend this time wisely by talking about Beryl?"

Mina waved off Amy's concern, "Beryl already has a costume! 'WE' don't! Now, I suggest a theme, like the 7 deadly sins. I'll be Lust!"

Serena popped up behind Raye, "I think Raye should be Wrath!"

Raye glared behind her, "If I'm Wrath than you're Gluttony because you EAT ENOUGH TO FEED A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!" Serena stuck her tongue out Raye as they started to duel it out in a tongue war.

Mina stared at them for a moment before shaking her head and turning back to the others, "Lita can be Envy, Amy you can be Greed…"

Amy clearly looked uncomfortable with this idea and cleared her throat as she turned to Mina, "Aside from the fact that I'm not sure I like this, there are only 5 of us…"

Serena interrupted the tongue-war, "Molly can be Pride and…" She looked around the room and snatched up the unsuspecting cat, "Luna can be Sloth!"

The girls all laughed at the expression on Luna's face. Mina sighed, "Okay, maybe that wasn't such a good idea." She ignored Lita's side comment, 'You think?' "But this is a serious problem! We only have a few days!"

Luna hissed and growled causing Serena to drop her on the floor. As Luna tried to compose herself she threw out another suggestion, "How about dressing up in your Princess forms? After all, as Sailor Scouts you are the Princesses from your planets."

The girls barely had time to digest the idea before Serena jumped up, "And I will be the Moon Princess!"

They all jerked their heads towards her.

Raye glared, "Don't you think the REAL Moon Princess would be a bit offended if YOU, of all people, dressed up as her and gave her a bad reputation?!"

Serena crossed her arms and did her best to glare, though she couldn't help but feel a bit hurt. "We'll deal with that problem IF the Moon Princess shows up to the Halloween Ball! Seeing how that is NOT likely, I don't see why I can't pretend for one night!"

Lita nodded, "She has a point. Besides, if we are all going as the Princesses, what else would she have to go as? She can't exactly go as Sailor Moon."

The girls sighed as they agreed, all thinking about how their Princess forms looked. Serena sat down next to Luna, "Luna… What was the Moon Princess like?"

Luna smiled as she thought back to a distant past. "She resembled her mother in every way. She was graceful, elegant, poised, knowledgeable, patient, kind, and beautiful." She paused and sternly looked at Serena, "Which is why I find it hard to believe you think that you can pull off being her for Halloween!"

Serena pouted, "You don't think I can be all of those things? Not even for one night?!" Her lower lip trembled and the girls covered their ears as Serena started to wail.

Luna covered her ears as well, "See what I mean?! The Moon Princess would NEVER wail like a baby! And as we all know you can't even go one hour without wailing! What makes you think you can go a whole night?!"

Serena sniffed softly as her wailing ceased. She took a deep breath and everyone peeked over at her, slowly taking their hands away from their ears in case her wailing started up again.

If she really wanted to be the Moon Princess for Halloween, then she would just have to prove to them that she could do it.

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_**READ THIS:**  
_

_**If** at any time in this story **you** **smiled ONCE**__, **you are** __**obligated**__ by The Smile Law __**to review**__!_

_:D_


	2. Disguise Pen Malfunction

_Hope you all enjoy_

_**Remember**__: If you smile ONCE in this story, you are obligated to review!_

_Smile Law, people!_

_:D_

_Please R&R!_

_

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_

**Chapter 2** – Disguise Pen Malfunction

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Serena walked slowly back towards her home, sighing. The girls had decided to meet at the store after dinner to help each other shop for fabric to make their costumes, but Luna and Artemis couldn't remember what the Moon Princess looked like. Without their help, Serena had absolutely no idea what to do.

"Well, you looked much happier a couple hours ago."

Serena stopped and looked up to see Matt. Her cheeks heated, remembering how they had met. The lop-sided smile on his face and the look in his eyes told her that he was remembering, too. She looked away from him quickly, too embarrassed to hold his gaze any longer. "I was just thinking…"

He came to stand beside her and they both continued walking slowly. "Thinking about what?"

She finally peered over at him, "Well, my friends and I were talking about what we were going to be for the Halloween Ball… And we decided, but I have no idea about what to do for my costume!"

"What are you dressing up as?"

"The Moon Princess." Serena internally smacked herself. 'Oh, that's brilliant, Serena. Simply brilliant. Just go and tell everybody.'

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Who is the Moon Princess?"

Serena smirked and mumbled under her breath, "That IS the question now, isn't it?" She cleared her throat and spoke louder, "Just... somebody I made up."

She heard Matt chuckle, "Well, how did you come up with her?"

"Ummm… I had a… dream? Yes! A dream."

"Can't you just think back to what this Moon Princess was wearing in your dream, and make your costume off of that?"

She sighed. She only wished it was that easy. If only she had a way to see what the real Moon Princess looked like.

Then, she had an idea.

"Oh! I have to go! I'll see you later, Matt!" She started to run home, leaving a very confused Matt staring after her.

Serena was out of breath by the time she reached her house. She flew through the door, passed her mother, and hurried up the stairs.

"Oh! Serena! Will you come help me with dinner?"

"Inaminutemom!"

Ellen heard the door to Serena's room slam shut and she shook her head.

Serena ran to her bed and took a few deep breaths. Then she whipped her hand behind her, into her space pocket, and grinned when she brought it back around in front of her.

The Luna Disguise Pen.

She couldn't believe she hadn't thought about it before. Now, she could simply transform into the Moon Princess, knock the socks off of everyone, and then shove the fact that she 'could' be a Princess into everyone's faces. The idea was simply genius.

"Disguise Power, turn me into the Moon Princess!"

For an entire minute, Serena was standing there in a dramatic pose with her arm stretched out above her head. The determined look on her face fell as she brought the pen down and looked at it.

She frowned and shook it, expecting to hear something rattle inside. "It doesn't sound broken..."

She tried it again. When it didn't work a second time she sat on her bed, staring at the pen in her hands.

"Why didn't it work?"

"Why didn't what work?"

Serena turned around to see Luna coming in from her open balcony door. She sighed, "The Disguise Pen. It's broken."

"Serena! You know you're only supposed to use that for Scout matters!"

"I knooow, but I just wanted to see what she looked like!"

"See what who looked like?"

Serena hesitated, "Um… The Moon Princess?"

Luna rolled her eyes before a frown crept up onto her face. "It didn't work?"

Serena shook her head.

"Try it again, let me see what happens."

So again, Serena stood up and shoved the pen in the air, yelling out her desire to become the Moon Princess. As she expected, nothing happened.

"Oh! I'll try this!" She shoved the pen in the air again, "Disguise Power! Turn me into a Princess!" 'If this works, It will make me act like a princess and I will only have to worry about my costume!'

Nothing happened.

Luna frowned. "Well, ask it for something non-princess related."

"Like what?" Luna was about to open her mouth before Serena grinned, "I know! Disguise Power! Turn me into the love of Tuxedo Mask's life!" Serena closed her eyes, desperately hoping the pen would work.

Luna collapsed onto the bed and covered her face with her paws, shaking her head. 'That girl has a one-track mind.'

There was a slight hesitation in the magic before pretty pink ribbons finally flowed around her and Luna turned her head away, waiting for the light to die down. When she heard Serena's excited shout, she turned back.

Serena had changed into Sailor Moon.

"HE LOVES ME!!" She jumped up and down, bouncing off of the walls in her room. "Now, all I have to do is tell him who I really am and then we can be together! Forever! Then we can have a wedding on the beach and he'll make me a bouquet of roses! And when he goes to unveil me, I'll unveil him, too, and take his mask off and it will be SO romantic! Then we-"

Luna glared at her, "Did you forget that we don't even know for sure if Tuxedo Mask is on our side? I think we have figured out that he is not working for the Negaverse, but we still don't know what his intentions are!"

Serena huffed, "But he LOVES me! He can't be bad if he loves me!"

Luna rolled her eyes and jumped off of the bed. "Honestly, Serena! I don't know what you're getting so excited about. He loves Sailor Moon, _not_ you!"

Serena crossed her arms and she started to wail, "Luna! You're so mean!"

Luna covered her ears, "And once he learns that Sailor Moon is really a cry baby, if he hasn't figured it out already, I doubt he'll even have feelings for her anymore!"

Serena sniffled and glared at the cat, "Well, if you know SO much about love, let's just see who the love of _your_ life is, shall we?!"

Luna's eyes went wide, "Serena… I was only kidding, I'm sure Tuxedo Mask will lo-"

"Disguise Power! Turn me into the love of Luna's life!"

There was no hesitation this time as pink ribbons again flowed around her and when the light died down, Serena was face-to-face with Luna. "So? What am I? A big ball of catnip? A giant rat?" Serena tried to think of other things Luna could possibly love that were this small as she started to walk over to her full length mirror. She was suddenly tackled by Luna.

"YES! You're a rat! And if you don't change back to Serena this instant, I'm going to eat you!"

Serena giggled and managed to get away before she took off in a run, followed closely by Luna.

"C'mon, Luna! It can't be that embarrassing!"

She skidded to a halt in front of the mirror and got a glimpse of her reflection before Luna pushed her out of the way.

Serena had seen what she needed to see, though, and didn't fight back anymore. Instead, she just rolled on the floor laughing.

She had turned into Artemis.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After dinner, Serena and Luna walked down the street towards the fabric shop. Serena was still having trouble keeping a straight face.

Luna tried to change the subject, "I still don't understand why it wouldn't change you into the Moon Princess. Maybe…Maybe, there is a spell around her identity to keep her safe. That would also explain why Artemis and I have no memory of what she looked like."

"Well, if that's the case, then why didn't it turn me into just a plain princess?"

Luna smirked, "The Disguise Pen changes a person's looks - it doesn't work miracles." Luna regretted what she said the instant it came out of her mouth.

Serena didn't glare at her like Luna expected her to. Instead, she simply smiled as she thought out loud in a teasing voice. "I wonder if Artemis will be at the fabric shop with Mina…"

Luna sheepishly looked up at her, "You wouldn't…"

Serena didn't respond and instead just continued skipping along with a huge grin on her face. When she turned the corner, however, she ran into somebody and was knocked back a few feet.

"Meatball Head!" Darien smiled and greeted her with fake enthusiasm.

Serena returned the gesture, "Jerkface!!"

Darien chuckled, "Are you actually on time to be somewhere?"

Serena glared and put her hands on her hips, "What do you mean by that?"

Darien shrugged, "Well… You're walking. That either means you have no set destination or you're on time… and since I find it hard to believe that you're actually on time, I can only assume you're wandering aimlessly around the city… Honestly, Meatball Head, don't you have any school work to do?"

"OOO!" Serena's arms went straight down at her sides and her hands balled in fists, "For your information, I AM on time, and I'm meeting my friends at the fabric shop!"

Darien raised an eyebrow, "Fabric shop? For what?"

"For the costume I'm going to wear to the Halloween Ball!"

"What are you going to dress up as? A meatball?"

"Of course not!" Serena crossed her arms and looked at him curiously. "WHY do you care what I'll be going as?"

"Well, I want to make sure that I will recognize you so that I can stay far enough away in case you klutz out, fall over everybody and start wailing."

Serena stomped her foot, "Well, you'll be happy to know that you won't hear a single wail from me ALL night!"

"Why? Are you going as a mime?"

Serena just huffed as she stomped around the laughing Darien. Now she _was_ going to be late! 'All thanks to that JERK!' She looked down at Luna, "Wipe that grin off of your face! He's not funny! He is a selfish jerk that will live the rest of his life alone and miserable!"

"Now, Serena. That's not a very nice thing to say to somebody. Besides, the Moon Princess would _never_ put anybody down."

"Even people like Darien?"

Luna nodded, "Even people like Darien."

Serena sighed, "Well THAT'S going to make acting like her a bit more difficult. I wish they just wrote all of this stuff down in a book."

Luna laughed, "Why don't you try the library? I'm sure you're not the only teenage girl that wants to become a princess."

"That's a great idea, Luna! I'll go to the library tomorrow!"

Luna looked up at her with her mouth hanging open. "You're actually willing to go into a library?" She never thought Serena would take her sarcastic suggestion seriously.

"Yes! I will find a book about how to act like a princess and by the night of the Halloween Ball, you will be looking at a completely different Serena!"

They entered the fabric store as Luna smirked, "Ha! I'll believe that when I see it!"

Serena glared down at her cat as she made her way over to the girls. She sent an evil grin down to Luna, who was shaking her head pleadingly, before she smiled over at the white cat on Mina's shoulder. "Artemis! Luna was just talking about you!"

Artemis jumped onto the ground and looked at Luna, "Really?"

Luna's cheeks heated under her black fur and Serena laughed as she went to join the other girls.

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Next chapter will be about how Serena tries to follow all of the advice she finds in a book about becoming a Princess... Including, and not limited to, being nice to Darien!

Who is Matt, you ask? Well... that is the question now, isn't it? ^_~ hehehe

_What did you think?_

_If you liked it, please review!_

_It makes me feel like I'm not failing in life :D_


	3. Acting Like a Princess

_Sorry for the delayed update!_

_I absolutely LOVED writing this chapter, so please let me know what you think._

_Remember, the **Smile Law**!  
If you smile, you must review!_

_Hehehe, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did._

_Also, I decided against talking more about Matt in this chapter.  
So for those of you that are curious to know who he is, all of your questions (well, most of them!) will be answered in the next chapter.  
Sorry! :D_

_

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_**Chapter 3 – **Acting like a Princess

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Beeeeep…Beeeeep…Beeeeep…Beee-SLAM!

Luna picked her head up and stared as one of Serena's hands sneaked back under the covers. "Serena, wake up!" Receiving no reply, Luna yawned and put her head back down. After all, she wasn't the one who needed to wake up.

Beeeeep…Beeeeep…Beeeeep…Beee-SLAM!

Luna growled under her breath and picked her head up again. "Serena! You'll be late for school!" When the only response she got was a soft snort interrupting the flow of Serena's constant snoring, she narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

Beeeeep…Beeeeep…Beeeeep…Beee-SLAM!

"Oh, this is ridiculous." Luna got up and stretched as she walked to the head of the bed. She cleared her throat before sticking her mouth right next to Serena's ear and pouncing on her face, "SERENA!"

Serena's eyes snapped open and she flipped over, knocking Luna off of the bed. "WHAT!?" She grumbled and sat up, trying to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes.

Luna jumped back onto the bed, "Don't you think this morning routine of yours is getting a little old?" She sighed as she began bathing all of the kinks out of her fur from the previous tumble to the floor.

Serena lazily glanced over at her alarm clock. Gasping, she threw off her blankets and dashed to her closet, ignoring the muffled screech behind her. "Luna, why didn't you wake me up?!"

Luna managed to untangle herself from the blankets as she stared incredulously at the blonde that was currently in the process of shoving her arms through her school uniform. "Don't blame me, Serena! How is one cat supposed to compete with your snoring?!"

Serena narrowed her eyes as she slipped into her skirt. "I do NOT snore, thank you very muc-umph!"

Luna cringed and peeked out of one eye as she watched Serena lose her balance and crash to the floor. "You're right, Serena. You don't snore and you're as graceful as a swan."

Serena shot a glare at her guardian as she grabbed her briefcase and threw open her bedroom door. She ran down the stairs and sped through the kitchen, snatching a muffin and her lunch, on her way out.

"Oh, Serena! Have a great day at-", Ellen stopped when she heard the front door slam and she sighed, "school…"

Serena glanced at her watch as she hurried to campus. "Oh, solatesolatesolate!" She flew around the corner and straight into someone, knocking them both from their feet and onto the ground. Before she had a chance to wail out an apology, she heard laughter.

"Serena, are you going to make a habit out of this?"

Serena looked up confused, forcing away her tears. Although she was looking into the blue eyes of a black-haired man, they weren't the blue eyes of the jerk that she always seemed to run into. "Oh, Matt! I'm so sorry!"

She watched as he got to his feet, a smile still shining on his face, and extended a hand to her. A grin formed on her lips as she accepted his hand.

"You know, if running into me is your attempt at trying to get to know me, I know of much less painful ways to accomplish the task."

Although she could tell by his voice that he was joking, she couldn't stop the blush that crept onto her cheeks as she laughed.

~*~

Darien rounded the corner and stopped short when he saw a man reach down to help his smiling Serena up off of the ground. Trying to ignore the jealousy boiling up inside of him, Darien marched forward, mentally preparing the morning's insult. After all, a confrontation with Serena was just as necessary as his morning cup of coffee.

Before he reached the pair, however, Serena was already running off, waving an apology towards the man. Darien stared after her, his mouth failing to form a remark quickly enough before she disappeared, running towards her school. He went to glare at the man, but his glare vanished when he realized that the man was nowhere in sight.

A scowl quickly adorned Darien's face as he dragged his feet all the way to the arcade. He walked in, hearing the door's chimes, and made his way to the counter.

Andrew raised his eyebrows at Darien's angry expression. "Woah, what got your panties in a twist this morning?"

Darien glared at the counter in front of him, "Nothing." He couldn't believe that his morning run-in with Serena had been stolen from him. He timed his morning perfectly every day so that he could run into her. Yes, it was true that all he did was insult her, but he couldn't help it. The corner of his lips turned upwards. She is just so adorable when she's angry.

The scowl quickly returned, replacing the tiny smile. This morning he was denied his adorable, angry Serena. One thing was for sure though - He wasn't going to let it happen again.

~*~

As the bell rang, Serena left campus with the other students. After being almost ten minutes late, she still couldn't believe that she had gotten out of detention. Rumor was that her teacher had a date that evening. Bless the man that could put up with her teacher! Serena smiled to herself. She hasn't seen the handsome jerk today AND she didn't get detention. Today was definitely looking up!

Serena waved good bye to her friend Molly before turning the corner to head to her usual after school hangout. As she was about to throw open the doors of the arcade and declare her undying love for Andrew as he served her a bowl of chocolate ice cream drizzled in chocolate syrup and caramel, she was stopped by the incessant beeping of her communicator.

She sighed as she held it close to her ear and flipped it open, listening closely to Mina's voice.

"Guys! There is a really ugly, green, slimy thing in the park! Get here as fast as you can!"

Serena started running towards the park, her communicator still next to her ear as she listened to the comments of her other friends.

Lita sighed, "I think after my apartment lease is up, I'm going to relocate to an apartment near the park. I'm getting sick of running across the city every day."

When Raye joined in the conversation, Serena could tell that she was already running because her irritated voice was strained by her heavy breathing. "Can someone swing by the school and get Serena out of detention?"

"Actually, Raye, Serena didn't receive detention today."

Raye smirked at Amy's comment. "Fine, then can someone run by the arcade and pull Serena's face out of her third bowl of ice cream?"

Serena's eyes narrowed as she put her communicator to her lips, "You know, Pyro, if you spent your time telling Chad how you really felt about him instead of wasting your breath insulting me, we wouldn't be running to the park right now, we'd be running to your wedding."

She heard the other girls laugh into their communicators, masking Raye's comeback, as she reached the park. She saw a flash of orange light from across the open field, signifying the fact that Mina had transformed. Serena looked around before she threw her hand into the air, "Moon Prism Power!"

After the pink light and flying ribbons disappeared, Sailor Moon jumped out from behind the bush and gasped in disgust as she realized Mina's description of the monster was accurate. "Hold it right there! I am Sailor Moon, champion of love and justice! And on behalf of the moon, I will triumph over all things yucky! And that definitely means you!"

The monster, that appeared to be a giant green slug, looked over at the interruption. Its mouth opened as it laughed, slime slowly dripping out of its mouth, as it dropped the latest energy-drained victim.

"EW! Can somebody get this thing a bib?!" She was too preoccupied with gagging that she didn't notice its tail swinging towards her.

"Sailor Moon, watch out!!"

Hearing Sailor Jupiter cry out, she looked over and screeched, throwing herself to the ground, covering her head with her arms. She felt the tail whip over her, barely missing its target. Instead of hitting her, the tail slammed into the tree next to her.

Sailor Moon peeked out from under her arm as the leaves that were jostled from the tree fell around her and saw the slime left by the tail oozing down the trunk. "Blech!!" She pushed herself to her feet.

"Mars Fire Ignite!"

"No, Mars, don-", Mercury sighed as she watched the attack fly towards the large slug. They all watched as the attack only managed to severely piss off the monster. She stopped Venus as she was also gearing up for an attack, "No, Venus! Your attack will have the same effect that Mars' did!"

Venus stomped her foot, "You have GOT to be kidding meeeeEEK!" They heard Venus yelp as she barely managed to jump over the tail rushing towards her.

Sailor Moon gasped, "Venus!" Too focused on making sure that Venus was all right to pay attention to her own back.

Venus looked up when Sailor Moon called her name and her eyes went wide, "Sailor Moon, look o-", she stopped mid-sentence when she saw a familiar caped man swoop in and pull their leader out just in time.

Sailor Moon looked up at the man that held her close as he carried her to safety. "Tuxedo Mask, thank you!" She felt heat rush to her cheeks as she remembered the previous day when she used the Luna Pen and realized that Tuxedo Mask loved her. She sighed happily in his arms as she stared up into his face. The black hair that was peeking out from under the top hat blew in the wind and his deep blue eyes were framed by his white mask.

How she wished she could reach up and see the face beneath.

Tuxedo Mask landed gracefully and set her down safely behind a tree. "Are you all right, Sailor Moon?"

Hearts in her eyes, with a love-struck grin on her face and her hands clasped in front of her heart, all she could do was nod.

Mercury pushed a couple buttons on her computer and looked up, "Jupiter! Use your lightning!"

"You got it! Jupiter Thunder Crash!" She watched as lightning raced towards the slug. Instead of glaring down the lightning, like it had done with Mars' fire, the monster squirmed and tried to get out of the way. When the lightning hit its back it let out a piercing scream.

Jupiter jumped up and grinned at Venus and Mars, both frustrated that they couldn't help out in the fight. "HA!"

Tuxedo Mask stared at the girl in front of him, "Sailor Moon, only you can do what is necessary to finish the job."

She shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts, having momentarily forgotten that they were in the midst of a battle, and gave Tuxedo Mask a determined nod as she stepped out from behind the tree placing her thumb and pointer finger on her tiara. "Moon Tiara Magic!" Her tiara lit up as she masterfully threw it towards the over-sized slug.

The monster screamed when the tiara hit, light surrounding its body. Everyone grabbed onto a tree when the ground shook as the upper half of the monster's body crashed and it turned into black dust.

Sailor Moon turned around, wanting to ask Tuxedo Mask if he was on their side and sighed when she discovered that he was already gone.

Luna rushed over to them, "Good job, Sailor Scouts!"

After they checked to make sure those that had their energy drained were okay, the girls parted directions to detransform.

Serena stepped out of an empty alley and was shortly joined by Luna. "Luna, I really don't think Tuxedo Mask is our enemy."

Luna frowned up at her, "How can you be so sure about that, Serena?"

Serena sighed happily as a grin formed on her face and her hands once again joined before her heart, "He's just too handsome!"

Luna rolled her eyes and groaned, turning the corner towards Serena's house only to stop short when she saw Serena going in the opposite direction. She turned around and caught up with her, "Serena, where are you going?

Serena looked down at her guardian, "To the library, remember? I have to get that book."

Luna's mouth dropped open as she watched a determined Serena march towards the library doors. When they walked inside, they heard a woman behind the desk angrily clear her throat.

"No pets allowed in the library!"

Serena looked behind her and stuck her tongue out at Luna as she continued on inside. Browsing the selections, she finally found the book she wanted and pulled it from the shelf. She grinned as she stared at the title: 'A Commoner's Guide to Being a Princess.' "Perfect!"

Serena tried to maneuver around a shelf, heading towards the counter, when she ran into someone else carrying a big stack of books and knocked them both from their feet. She gasped as her book flew out of her hand and landed on the floor, quickly joined by the books of the person she ran into.

"Meatball Head?! What are _you_ doing in the library??"

Serena cringed as she looked up and stared into Darien's deep blue eyes. She shot him a glare as she snatched her book from the pile and got to her feet. She was about to shout out a rude response when she remembered what Luna had said the previous day about the Moon Princess not being mean.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. "I expect that I'm doing the same thing you are, Darien – I'm checking out a book." She turned on her heels and walked away, leaving a stunned Darien behind her.

As she reached the check-out counter, she grinned, insanely proud of herself. Her self-satisfaction was cut short when she was asked a question by the librarian. "Theories of Molecular Dynamics? That's a pretty advanced book for you, isn't it?"

Serena's heart stopped as she grabbed the book from the woman's hands and stared at the cover. Realizing she must have grabbed the wrong book in her efforts to escape Darien, she turned quickly. Fear welled up inside of her as she saw Darien picking up her book from the pile.

His laughter cut through the silence of the library.

She failed to find a place to hide fast enough before she was spotted and watched as he made his way over to her, a grin plastered to his face. He held out her book, "I believe this is yours."

Serena hesitated, tempted to deny that the book was hers. She finally took it from his hands and placed the book she had taken by mistake on the top of his pile. Blushing madly, she turned back around and handed the correct book to the librarian, trying to ignore her suppressed laugh.

Darien appeared next to her, placing his selection down on the counter. "A guide to being a princess, huh? Well, just make sure that you don't drool on this book like you do with your school books."

Serena took a deep breath and chanted to herself, 'Be nice, be nice, be nice, be nice, be nice, be nice.' "Yes, well, this book is hopefully going to be more interesting than those are. Now if you'll excuse me…" She took her book and started towards the doors.

Darien raised an eyebrow at her, noticing the fact that she hadn't snapped at him yet. "Well, I wish you the best of luck, Your Highness." He bowed at the waist as he laughed, cheering himself at the glare that he received.

~*~

Luna jumped down from the short wall of bricks that surrounded the tiny garden as Serena stormed passed her. "Let me guess, Darien was in there." Her assumption was confirmed when she heard Serena grumble, as Darien was the only person that could make her react like that.

When they finally reached her house, Serena marched upstairs and shut her bedroom door. Falling back on her bed, she sighed as she stared at the image on the book's cover. A beautiful woman walking gracefully down the stairs, holding her gown in one hand as her other hand glided across the banister. She smiled as she thought back to the gorgeous white fabric she had purchased the day before. Somehow, she was going to make that into a gown as beautiful as the one this woman was wearing on the cover.

Sighing happily, she finally opened the book and started to read.

Luna watched a frown emerge on Serena's face as she slowly flipped through the pages. "What does it say?"

Serena glared at the book, "It says that a princess is expected to be kind, dress elegantly, act like a lady, and among other things, she's supposed to do well in school."

Luna nodded approvingly, "That sounds about right."

"Well, I'll just do a few things like be nice and… oh! This one! It says that a princess is expected to socialize. I can definitely do that!"

"Serena! You can't pick and choose which qualities of a princess you want! If you want to be a proper princess, you should follow everything that book says!"

Serena sighed as she flipped through a few more pages. She suddenly sat up straight and grinned. "Luna, you support me in my efforts to try and act like a princess, right?"

Luna nodded, "Of course I do. Despite the fact that you aren't a princess of anything, it's still important for the leader of the Sailor Scouts to properly blend in with the Moon Princess and other people of importance."

"And you said that you approve of this book and that I should follow everything that this book says, right?"

Luna frowned, taking on an uncertain tone. "…Yes."

Serena dropped the book in front of Luna and pointed half-way down on one of the pages.

Luna sighed and began to read where Serena's finger was, "After dressing like a princess, it is important that a lady of status smells like a princess. Number one: Lightly spray high quality perfume on your wrists and on your neck, behind the ears."

Luna skimmed the rest of the numbers, "Number Two: Scent your personal space. Number three: Grow perfumed flowers," Luna smirked, interrupting her reading, "So much for that one. You wouldn't even be able to keep a cactus alive!"

Serena only smiled and told her to keep reading.

"Number four: Suck on peppermint lozenges. Number five: Scent your shoe liners…?" Shaking her head, she proceeded to read the next one. "Number six: Wash –", Luna stopped mid-sentence and worriedly glanced up at a grinning Serena.

Serena stood from the bed, picked a squirming Luna up and headed to the bathroom, ignoring Luna's hisses. "_You_ said that you support my efforts in becoming a princess and _you_ said to follow everything that book says. And number six says that I should wash my pets regularly!"

* * *

_I can see you over there smiling!  
You know what to do!_

_*Points to the button below* _

_Gotta love that Smile Law :D_


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